In Conjunction With Teachers Day

We all have had our own fair share of encounters with teachers at one point or another. They have been there for many decades, educating the future leaders of tomorrow, and they will remain doing that for many years to come. I remember myself as a student back then, and I am sure all of us have questioned the existence of a teacher at one point or another.

What not, we all never had good impressions of teachers back then. Teachers, to us, led easy lives, for in our viewpoint all they did was teach, give us homework and torture us for us to perform at the final year examinations. Teachers were a symbol of misery, as they pushed us and stressed us unnecessarily. However, while there may be some truth to that, we often do not realize how myopic such a viewpoint is.

Coming from someone who had experienced teaching this year, both as a relief teacher and an Assistant Field Instructor, I now fully understand the hustle and tussles of the life of a teacher. It definitely is no easy feat, with teaching comprising only a very small portion of what a teacher does. Whoever knew that teachers had to handle so many other stuff with ongoing meetings, countless administration affairs, marking, the setting of exam papers, just for us to progress and develop our characters to become better individuals? They sacrifice so much for us and though it seems as if they are idling around, they are actually back stage workers who work to help us all survive through the year. They do things in private, and they never announce out loud the many things they do for us. Being humble is one of the virtues of a great teacher.

Truthfully, being a teacher is not an easy one, and contrary to what some might say, it takes more than just any random Tom, Dick or Harry to become one. The roles of the teacher have already shifted off its original course, and teachers nowadays have to do more in order to be seen as outstanding. They aren’t employed to teach, they are employed to teach and perform to ensure their deliveries are interesting enough for the attention span of the students to be sustained. They need to have that special connection with their students in order to reach out to them and make them learn optimally in terms of academics and moral values so as to become good contributors of society in the future. They also need to have good communication skills, be empathetic and understand their students emotions and feelings, know their stuff well and more importantly, be caring and patient in order to succeed for the world of teaching is one full of impending obstacles. These obstacles are there, you just don’t know when they’ll hit you.

However, despite all the hardship a teacher goes through, I am proud to say that neither of these factors will stop me from becoming one. I’ve had many different responses whenever I say that I would like to be a teacher. Some were really encouraging, telling me to pursue this as a career as it suited me and that it was a very noble and respectable job. Many others though, thought I was crazy to even think of going down that route for the hardship and stress I would be going through. To them, being a teacher is not satisfying enough as the pay is not equivalent to the stress teachers go through. Dealing with problematic students also form part of the reason why the idea of being a teacher turns them off immediately. These people have bold dreams and would rather aspire to become world class businessmen or engineers who earn tens of thousands rather than go down the conventional route to become a teacher.

Having said all that, my passion still lies in the path of a teacher. I realized that I absolutely love being in the company of teachers and students as there are really a lot that we can learn just by being with them. More than anything else, it gives me great satisfaction when I see my students and cadets grow and progress from who they originally were. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with students, and many times have I felt this great sense of achievement within myself when my students and I simply connect . When my students grasp all that I have taught and show improvement in their exams, it makes me happy. When I tackle students with disciplinary issues and they finally go up to me one day to tell me I have impacted their lives, the satisfaction attained is overwhelming. Seriously, there’s nothing better like enriching the lives of the young and knowing you were part of that process. These lives you impacted will remember you all the way, and I dare say ten years down the road, should you meet any of them, they will still remember you clearly and tell you how thankful they are to you for all that you have done for them. The respect you earn from these people, the special bond you create with them, all these lasts a lifetime and that’s something money cannot buy.

Not even the tens and thousands you earn from being a world class businessman or an engineer

So to all those out there who are teachers, be it whether you're a piano teacher, religious class teacher, school teacher, tuition teacher or any form of teacher, thank you for all you have done. This day is specially for you and you truly deserve it.

HAVE A HAPPY TEACHERS DAY! =D